When the Muellers purchased Crested Butte in 2004, they attempted to expand the resort to neighboring Snodgrass Mountain (the mountain adjacent to the base village facing the opposite direction as Crested Butte). Issues with the government due to land ownership and operating agreements eventually killed the project.
I feel like the biggest caveat to Snodgrass besides the ownership disputes would’ve been it being disconnected from the rest of the ski area.
Consider how you’d have to take an interconnect lift (a la Timberline at Park City) from the base of the Gold Link pod to access the Snodgrass area, then use it and Gold Link in tandem to get back over to Crested Butte.
I don’t think that’s necessary. Gold Link never gets big lines, even on weekends, and is really short. I honestly think upgrading Gold Link to a HSQ would mean EVERYONE would lap Cascade and Panion’s, ruining the snow and vibe.
Snodgrass is just across the road. Not sure there would be a need for an interconnect lift. Loveland is two separate ski areas in all but name. Not that it matters.
Does anyone have any old pictures of the T-Bar that was removed in 2005? I know skilifts.org has some on their page, but are there any pictures of it operating?
I think that Crested butte needs to upgrade a lot of their lifts so I created an upgrade plan for the next few years and wanted to get some thoughts on it and if it seemed reasonable.
For 2024- Silver Queen and Paradise go HSS because of the age and demand for the lifts.
For 2025- Red Lady gets a Chondola with a six pack and an 8 person gondola since it is mainly beginner terrain.
For 2026- Painter boy and Gold link are both replaced with HSQ but painter boy starts at the base.
1- I don’t see the demand on either of those lifts. Paradise, maybe, but I haven’t skied there since they replaced Teo and I imagine the new quad takes some of the load from Paradise. Their age may warrant it but I haven’t seen inside to tell how well they’re holding up.
2- Why a telemix? There’s no facility at the top of the lift to warrant it. Many of us have commented over the years that lapping a gondola is a chore, and though I don’t think anyone here is a beginner skier I can assure you that those new to the sport are even less likely to want to remove skis/boards every lap.
3- Why? Neither of those are very long and serve their pods well. Extending Painter Boy to the base will have the additional effect of dumping all its current trails onto one egress route as well. Current traffic is more spread out but if every skier lapping that lift has to ski down Warming House Hill every time, that run could get crowded. Skier density is definitely a factor to consider.
Donald, you should know from reading many previous comments that it’s not that easy.
Pricklypear- age is only one factor. If a lift is older, but still supported by its manufacturer (or that company’s successor), and has nothing else screaming ‘replace me!’ then most ski areas aren’t inclined to just swap lifts out.
Silver Queen’s summit is just too narrow and congested to warrant pulling more skiers up there. Just re-furb or replace in-kind …
… But a Twister replacement/restoration would be nice, to allow better lapping of single-black, mid-mountain terrain. It would end before the top of silver queen, and Windy Gap. I think a fixed grip would be better-suited there, since it’s an expert auxiliary lift. Could be a good second-home for Wayback, Elkhorn, or Cascade (the Breck riblets are headed for scrap).
Paradise and Red Lady would make sense as six packs. I also don’t see the need for a Telemix on Red lady.
Painter Boy, in the same alignment, as a HSQ would be my very first upgrade pick. Agree w/ PBR it shouldn’t be extended. A lot of beginner skiers want a nice, defined, short area to lap and progress in.
… that said, a pure gondola to the top of Painter Boy from the Base would be nice. Add some carpets and a new learning center, and it would be very on-trend w/ recent strategies across destination resorts. That would also set up crowd flow should Snodgrass expansion ever move forward.
From What I know a Twister replacement is next in line, the question is if it will be a FG or detachable. Silver Queen can add chairs as it is currently only 1800 pph but maybe after the new twister is in place a new Silverqueen will be an idea as it would become more of a distribution lift not a lapping lift.
1- A Paradise HSS would be nice, but Silver Queen should stay a quad, since almost everybody going out of base opts for Red Lady.
2- Red Lady really just needs more chairs. A 6/8 Chondola would be a massive overkill.
3-Painter Boy and Gold Link are getting old, but they’re still in great shape and are pretty short, so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Even if it were to happen, extending Painter Boy it down to the base area doesn’t seem possible, as there is barely any room for a HSQ terminal down there
TBH, I think Vail isn’t really prioritizing CB as a mountain for lift upgrades, especially considering their plans for Vail Mountain and Breckenridge. I really don’t think we’ll be seeing any new lifts here anytime soon, but if I had to guess, I think the next new lift we’ll see here is the Paradise HSS.
Lift Blog 
When the Muellers purchased Crested Butte in 2004, they attempted to expand the resort to neighboring Snodgrass Mountain (the mountain adjacent to the base village facing the opposite direction as Crested Butte). Issues with the government due to land ownership and operating agreements eventually killed the project.
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I feel like the biggest caveat to Snodgrass besides the ownership disputes would’ve been it being disconnected from the rest of the ski area.
Consider how you’d have to take an interconnect lift (a la Timberline at Park City) from the base of the Gold Link pod to access the Snodgrass area, then use it and Gold Link in tandem to get back over to Crested Butte.
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I’d think that would necessitate replacing Gold Link with a higher capacity lift, possibly a detachable although it is pretty short.
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I don’t think that’s necessary. Gold Link never gets big lines, even on weekends, and is really short. I honestly think upgrading Gold Link to a HSQ would mean EVERYONE would lap Cascade and Panion’s, ruining the snow and vibe.
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Snodgrass is just across the road. Not sure there would be a need for an interconnect lift. Loveland is two separate ski areas in all but name. Not that it matters.
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Does anyone have any old pictures of the T-Bar that was removed in 2005? I know skilifts.org has some on their page, but are there any pictures of it operating?
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Thank You so much!
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Some of the original gondola towers were re used for the 1973 Heron Poma Silver Queen bubble chair
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I think that Crested butte needs to upgrade a lot of their lifts so I created an upgrade plan for the next few years and wanted to get some thoughts on it and if it seemed reasonable.
For 2024- Silver Queen and Paradise go HSS because of the age and demand for the lifts.
For 2025- Red Lady gets a Chondola with a six pack and an 8 person gondola since it is mainly beginner terrain.
For 2026- Painter boy and Gold link are both replaced with HSQ but painter boy starts at the base.
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I think this idea is good, since Crested butte is now owned by Vail Resorts.
Does anyone else have any comments to this?
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1- I don’t see the demand on either of those lifts. Paradise, maybe, but I haven’t skied there since they replaced Teo and I imagine the new quad takes some of the load from Paradise. Their age may warrant it but I haven’t seen inside to tell how well they’re holding up.
2- Why a telemix? There’s no facility at the top of the lift to warrant it. Many of us have commented over the years that lapping a gondola is a chore, and though I don’t think anyone here is a beginner skier I can assure you that those new to the sport are even less likely to want to remove skis/boards every lap.
3- Why? Neither of those are very long and serve their pods well. Extending Painter Boy to the base will have the additional effect of dumping all its current trails onto one egress route as well. Current traffic is more spread out but if every skier lapping that lift has to ski down Warming House Hill every time, that run could get crowded. Skier density is definitely a factor to consider.
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All three TB-41 lifts would best benefit from having extra chairs added.
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But considering the age of these lifts, doesn’t replacement seem neccesary in the next few years?
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Donald, you should know from reading many previous comments that it’s not that easy.
Pricklypear- age is only one factor. If a lift is older, but still supported by its manufacturer (or that company’s successor), and has nothing else screaming ‘replace me!’ then most ski areas aren’t inclined to just swap lifts out.
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From What I know a Twister replacement is next in line, the question is if it will be a FG or detachable. Silver Queen can add chairs as it is currently only 1800 pph but maybe after the new twister is in place a new Silverqueen will be an idea as it would become more of a distribution lift not a lapping lift.
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1- A Paradise HSS would be nice, but Silver Queen should stay a quad, since almost everybody going out of base opts for Red Lady.
2- Red Lady really just needs more chairs. A 6/8 Chondola would be a massive overkill.
3-Painter Boy and Gold Link are getting old, but they’re still in great shape and are pretty short, so I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Even if it were to happen, extending Painter Boy it down to the base area doesn’t seem possible, as there is barely any room for a HSQ terminal down there
TBH, I think Vail isn’t really prioritizing CB as a mountain for lift upgrades, especially considering their plans for Vail Mountain and Breckenridge. I really don’t think we’ll be seeing any new lifts here anytime soon, but if I had to guess, I think the next new lift we’ll see here is the Paradise HSS.
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